New Joiners - Landscapes #757

I like the worm's eye perspective - its bold and eye-catching. The blue sky provides a clean, impactful backdrop and the modern architecture creates a graphic and interesting composition. However, the visible dust spots are distracting and should be removed using the clone or heal tool. Remember to clean sensors from time-to-time to reduce 'dust bunnies'.

This is a really nice composition. The rocks in the foreground help 'point' the eye into the frame - and placing the main peak on a third has helped produce a well-balanced composition. The light and contrast provide the frame with depth and beauty. There appears to be some lens flare on the tip of the peak, but this could easily be tidied-up.

This is an interesting scene with lots of potential. The government building - while small within the composition - provides a key focal point and the colourful trees and reflections add further interest. However, I find both the out of focus leaf (bottom right) and overhanging branches (top left) distracting and unnecessary. And the immediate foreground is out of focus. A slightly longer focal length would have excluded these distractions and created a cleaner, simpler image in my opinion.

Surely no self-respecting landscape photographer can resist a cloud inversion! These are stunning conditions and reward for the photographer for reaching this elevated viewpoint. I like the layers within this view - the 'island' in the middle of the frame makes a great focal point.

This is a beautiful winter wonderland - almost a Narnia-like scene. The backlighting works well, providing interesting inky shadows that help give the photo depth and contrast. For me, there is maybe too much sky - a horizontal format composition might have worked better in this instance? And the colours are a little too saturated too for my own personal taste. A very appealing and attractive composition, though.

Another beautiful wintry landscape. The snow clad trees are picturesque, and the attractive cool blue tone helps convey a feeling of coldness. The composition maybe feels a bit cramped, though. I would have been tempted to include more negative space to give the trees more breathing room and also create a better sense of isolation and remoteness.

What gorgeous conditions and a well seen composition. The dramatic sky and sea contrast well with the delicacy and vibrancy of the foreground flowers. Unfortunately, the very closest flowers are slightly out of focus. This is a challenging scene, though, requiring a huge amount of depth of field - too much to capture in a single frame. In the future, try focus stacking to extend depth of field and record everything from front-to-back sharply.

I do like the simplicity and boldness of this composition. The mist really helps the structure jump out, and the reflections and ripples convey a sense of calmness. Nature is so good at adapting - and the resting/nesting birds provide interest and help tell a wider story.

This is a really nicely composed shot of a well-photographed landmark. The bridge helps lead the eye into the frame, and the little tree on the far right helps stop the eye from exiting the composition. The slither of wall (in the bottom left corner) is a bit distracting and I would crop this out. This image would have so much more impact in better light. The photographer has been unlucky with flat, dull conditions. Warm sidelight would really bring the shot alive and provide depth and contrast.

This is an eye-catching composition boosting lots of depth and interest. The walkway creates a strong lead-in line, and the photographer has positioned themselves carefully to create a strong sense of symmetry. The long shadows add interest, and the photographer has controlled exposure well - I'm guessing they used the HDR mode on their camera, or have bracketed and blended. The buoy overlapping the rope on the right is a bit irritating unfortunately. But overall this is a well seen and captured image.

This is a lovely moody long exposure shot. I love the cool blue hues and ethereal, milky water created by the 30-second exposure. I'm guessing this is a composite, though - there is no cloud movement/blur despite the exposure length, and the bright reflected area on the water (near the middle of the frame) doesn't match the sky.

This is a dramatic scene with the silhouetted castle standing out boldly against the towering hills behind. Shooting toward the sun is very seductive, but the level of contrast is often too much for our camera's sensors to capture. In this instance, the sun - and its reflection - are overexposed and highlights 'blown out'. One way to extend dynamic range is to bracket exposure and then these merge files together in post-processing to capture a wider tonal range.

This is a lovely vivid sunset. The colours are possibly too saturated for my personal taste, but it is a nicely composed and captured shot. The photographer has clearly lifted the shadows in post-processing to avoid detail being silhouetted. However, you can see 'haloing' around the foreground rocks from where this has been done - try to avoid being too aggressive with shadow and highlight recovery to prevent this from happening.